Current streamflow- 89cfs
Water temps- Low 60s
Hatches:
Yellow Sally stoneflies
Cahills mayflies
Sulphur mayflies
Golden stone flies
Salmonflies
Tan midges
Hot flies:
Elk hair caddis
Neversink caddis
Klinkhammer
Parachute Adams
Chubby Chernobyl
Pat's rubber legs
Rainbow warrior
Frenchie
Quill perdigon
We could use a good shot of rain like most streams in Tennessee right now, but thankfully, water temps are very good at the moment. Daytime highs and overnight lows have been cooler than normal, keeping water temps in the safe zone for trout on most of the river. Concentrate your efforts from Bald River confluence upstream to the NC State Line. You can probably still find trout on the Tellico downstream of Bald Rivee, but water temps are likely pushing up into the mid or upper 60s, so if you plan to release your catch, move further upstream.
The Tellico, Citico and tribs are all excellent right now albeit some of the lower gradient tribs like North and Bald, are getting pretty skinny and the trout will be more skittish than at normal stream levels. A dry dropper is your best bet for gently laying out flies with the least chance of spooking your target. A dry fly in the size 14-16 range and a similarly sized, lightly weighted or unweighted dropper is your best option on the tributaries.
Dry/dropper is also an excellent choice for the Tellico and Citico, although you will still have plenty of luck on a nymph rig, especially if you are euronymphing in the faster runs and pocket water.
There is a chance for rain this afternoon and a decent chance all next week so hopefully that will be enough to get streamflows back up to normal level. Either way, air temps will continue to be cooler than normal throughout this week and next, so we shouldn't see water temps degrade too much.
Give us a call, shoot us a message, or stop by the shop for the latest conditions.